Little Green Thumbs Of Nokomis Elementary In Holbrook Design Gardens At School

Holbrook, NY — Twenty-two students from Nokomis Elementary School are participating in an ongoing gardening project, which brings their classroom outdoors. The children in Joe Papagni’s fifth grade class became little green thumbs over the spring, according to a spokeswoman for the school.

“There is nothing more authentic than seeing your students create something from the ground up,” said Papagni. “Watching them get their hands dirty and taking ownership of their work and the outcome of the garden was the best part of this experience.”

In April, the students ordered materials for the project and a month later they learned about germination and plant care. Once they completed designs and mapped out gardening boxes, the kids planted seeds for kale, lettuce, marigolds, radishes, snap peas, spinach, sunflowers, swiss chard and tomatoes in five-yards of dirt. The students used popsicle sticks to label their various crops and flowers and added mulch to help improve the soil’s moisture and maintain its temperature.

The spokeswoman said that the children are excited about the garden, which they will continue working on throughout the summer, and are looking forward to the finished project.